


Everything will be alright (we'll figure it out together.)

by Mothman_plays_the_drums



Series: The Middle (And How You Do Your Best Within It.) [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: M/M, Seonghwa ran away from a wedding (again), Soft!, The 7/11 when it's dark and everything feels surreal, haha - Freeform, loosely based off of The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mothman_plays_the_drums/pseuds/Mothman_plays_the_drums
Summary: Hongjoong leaves his house for the first time in a week to get some Pepsi and instead makes a very well dressed friend.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: The Middle (And How You Do Your Best Within It.) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878805
Comments: 2
Kudos: 87





	Everything will be alright (we'll figure it out together.)

**Author's Note:**

> ATEEZ CB ON THE 29TH YOU FUCKERS BETTER STREAM

Hongjoong... Hadn't prepared for this.

To be fair, he hadn't prepared for much, he had only left the sanctity of his own home to run to the gas station, because he didn't feel like going all the way to the grocery store to buy more Pepsi. He looked half dead, in a pair of sweatpants he'd been wearing for a week straight and a tank top that didn't smell too dirty, and well... His hair was a whole other issue, what with it still being fried from his last dye job. He honestly hadn't considered the idea he'd interact with a person, let alone a very well dressed, if not fairly disheveled person. 

He stood, awkward, in front of a line of 2-liter coke bottles, silently willing the suit clad boy to just... Move, so Hongjoong could get to the Pepsi. 

"Is there really a difference? Between Coke and Pepsi?" The boy beside him asked, prompting Joong to look up from his phone like a deer caught in headlights.

He pointed at himself, confusedly. When fancy-boy nodded, Hong gave thought to it for a few moments. "I mean, haven't you... Had, either? It's kind of everything." 

"No, I hadn't, actually," he replied, "my family i- was kind of uptight." 

Joong hummed. He tried to figure out how to word it. How do you explain something that's just been a fact your whole life? Pepsi has always been Pepsi, Coke has always been Coke. "I guess," he sighed, "Pepsi is sweeter? Coke has always been too bitter for me. That's why I've been standing here the whole time, actually. Didn't wanna, like, get too close and freak you out, or something." 

Fancy-boy's eyes widened in recognition, and he stepped (more like stumbled) out of the way with stuttered apologies. Then, they stood in silence again, for a time.

Until, for some reason, Hongjoong chanced it. "So... Not to like, judge or anything, it isn't my place, but... Well- I mean- not everyone shows up to the gas station, dressed to the nines, at ten o'clock at night." 

The boy smiled, and Hongjoong would be a fool to admit he found the embarrassed blush that rose on his cheeks really cute. The boy gave no other excuse than, "I just moved here, actually. It was... Kinda last minute."

"Ahhh, that explains everything." Joong giggled, just a little, despite himself.

"Well, don't you get into your Sunday best when you move?" Fancy- Hongjoong had to put a name to him, but he replied so easily, almost snarky enough to think he was being funny. Regardless, the small smirk on the boy's face brought Joong a bigger grin. 

(The boy's eyes were red, the skin around them puffy, but Hongjoong figured it was best not to ask.)

"Well, if it's worth anything, you look great." Joong isn't sure why he feels a little bit of satisfaction when the stranger he complemented smiles even wider.

"I- well- Thanks," he stutters, "you don't look too bad yourself. Blond suits you."

"Ah, thanks, I did it two days ago." 

"I can tell." 

Joong spends a couple of seconds pretending to be offended, before the boy gives him the bottle (the last two liter bottle, in fact,) of Pepsi as an apology. Hongjoong reluctantly accepts.

"So..."

"So..."

Joong holds up a peace sign, and he smiles at fancy boy. "Will I start seeing you around here more often? Town is pretty small, and if you always dress like this..." 

"That sounds like a judgement." 

"It not!" Hongjoong pauses when he hears (and momentarily falls in love with) the man's laugh. "I just mean that you'll be easy to spot. It's a small town, not too many people put this much effort into their outfits. It's refreshing." 

"Why, thank you. While I'm flattered, this won't be a regular occurrence. There were special circumstances."

"Like?" 

"My friend. He needed Pepsi." 

"And you went and got it, because...?"

"You're not gonna believe me."

"To be fair, I didn't believe I'd meet a well dressed man in the soda aisle of 7/11, but y'know."

The man snorted, nodding. "You got me there! You've got me there. Well, I... My friend helped me run away from... A wedding. And he's lived in this town his whole life, wasn't having trouble paying bills, so he let me stay with him. We ran out of Pepsi, so this was the least I could do. For now."

"Oh, shit."

"Yeah." 

"Was your partner..."

"It wasn't her, I just don't... Play in that ball field, y'know? And my family wasn't very understanding." 

"Oh, yikes..." Now that was something Hongjoong had experience with. He reached home out, but stopped just short of the boy's shoulder. "Can I-" 

"Yeah, it's ok."

Hongjoong patted the boy's shoulder, and even felt brave enough to side-step just a little closer. "I'm sorry about your family, and uh- from, y'know- from experience, getting on your feet will be tough, but it's gonna be so much better than dealing with that shit every single day, and if you'd like, I could give you my number, so I could help you with- like, whatever you need." 

"Really?" 

It was the way The boy looked so excited, so surprised at the offer of help, that utterly shattered Hongjoong's heart.

"Yeah," he whispered, so light it almost seemed like him huffing a breath more than anything. 

With that, though, Hongjoong gave the boy- Seonghwa, not just fancy boy, his number, and the bottle of Pepsi before they parted ways. He settled for sprite that night, and figured it was worth it when Seonghwa, who Hongjoong labeled "fancy boy" in his phone, despite knowing his his actual name now, sent him a small text, perhaps even the promise of later.

"Thanks for the help tonight, you have no idea how much I appreciate it."

"Also, I never got your name."

**Author's Note:**

> ATEEZ CB ON THE 29TH SUPPORT OUR BOYS M U A H


End file.
